CEDIA Shares Stats from Market Intelligence Project

At CEDIA EXPO 2011, the organization unveiled a comprehensive data collection initiative it has been working on since May-the Size and Scope of the Residential Electronic Systems Market in the U.S. 2011. The information gathered from this project is “vital” for the industry, said CEO Utz Baldwin.

According to CEDIA, the project begun as a result of the lack of information available specific to the custom channel–how the channel is represented in the larger residential electronic systems market and trends that should be tracked. Additionally, the organization reports that 74 percent of CEDIA membership is currently utilizing industry data to make business decisions. And only 39 percent were satisfied with the research currently available.

The purpose of the project included gathering more information on the market at large that will help to create better products and services to the membership as well as manufacturers.

Determining the size of the workforce that each installation company segment of the industry represents

Determining the total economic impact of the installation portion of the residential electronics systems industry, with specifics on each installation company segment

Determining the annual level of industry products sales, broken down by category and distribution

General market conditions and forecasting

Requests for information were sent to the following: electronic systems contractors, security/alarm installation companies, home network/IT professionals and electrical contractors; manufacturers and distributors serving the residential electronics systems industry; mass merchants, large installation service providers and telecoms in the residential electronics systems industry.

Product categories examined in the study were determined based on data collected from installation companies based on the level of use and shipment information. These categories include multi-channel audio/video system and associated controls; multi-room audio systems; racks, mounts and installation hardware; outdoor entertainment systems; home controls; home networking; home security systems; central vacuum systems; and cabling, wiring, interconnects and AC power conditioning.

All categories have varying subcategories based on complexity.

Some of the preliminary findings from participants (who must have been completing residential installations, which include the usage of at least one of the product categories mentioned above) include:

The estimated number of industry installation companies (in all channels) is 17,500 to 18,500.

The estimated number of ESC companies is 10,500 to 11,500, which includes custom retailers, AV installers and integrators.

The estimated number of security/alarm systems companies is 2,500 to 3,500

The estimated number of home network/IT professionals companies is 2,000 to 3,000

The estimated number of electrical contractor companies is 1,250 to 2,250

CEDIA’s market research manager, Erica Shonkwiler, reported that the data will be available in the fourth quarter of this year. Assisting in the data collection was marketing intelligence agency Parks Associates. The company believes that this data analysis will provide true, comprehensive market intelligence for this industry.

CEDIA welcomes feedback at research@cedia.org. “This is a tool to serve [the membership] so we want to make sure it is done as well as possible,” said Shonkwiler.